The Baltimore Book Festival will follow a week later in the city's Mt. Vernon neighborhood. Events run from Sept. 27 to 29. The event doesn't have the star power of its southern neighbor, but it's always fun. (And we don't mind the comparison -- we have a Super Bowl champion team with ties to Edgar Allan Poe; D.C. has a team with a racially tinged nickname.) In 2012, featured authors included Laura Lippman, Steven Galloway and Alafair Burke.

In some years, the festivals have been held on the same weekend, which created problems for anyone who wanted to see the complete lineup of authors. This year, it's clear sailing, so long as you don't mind braving Washington's traffic.